I had many false starts on this drama....I had to rewatch the first two episodes more than a couple times because I was distracted by other dramas I'd been waiting on for years (The pillow book.) The beginning of this drama felt a little dry to me, but once I sat down and decided I would watch no matter what....I was glad I did.

Our heroine was super annoying at first...a real spoiled brat, but she grows over time into a genuinely admirable character.

The ML is stoic, mysterious, and dull, but he also grows over time through his interactions with the FL.

My one qualm is that the FL looked and felt like she was 12yrs old up until the time she was sent to Xirong.

The acting of the other characters in Xirong was not great... sometimes laughable, but the FL and ML were decent enough that they carried the plot.

Spoiler.... characters and ships that you love are going to drop and die like it's a GOT spin off.... there are no happy endings even for the one ship that does sail.

The ending itself is very confusing. I was forced to search online until I discovered the movie which continues the story of our FL and ML... so technically there's a happy ending...I guess.

The story itself drew me in. Once I got passed the first 5-7 episodes, I was hooked. WARNING: Our FL suffers ALOT. I would almost compare her suffering to Qian qian in 10MoPB.

She stays courageous and strong throughout. I found myself admiring her ability to fool her enemies while plotting their death.

I would recommend this to anyone.... if you're looking for the happy ending, the movie has the ending you're looking for :-D